The current "wish list" has about $20k in electronics and wiring. Then theres the brakes, wheels (For drag strip), suspension, and some body work that are around $5k each.

My labor is free, so this is a relative bargain in car building world.

If you could start with either a $500 junk yard chassis, or a $200K exotic, and it's still going to cost you about $100k each to create a competent racing platform. If you are first to develop that platform, that budget can easily double or triple as you work in development and manufacturing of custom parts. I know of one professional team that took $XXk street cars...and spent close to $300k each to build them into class winning cars.

Now...that may seem really extreme...but that depends on your perspective. If you at the top of the "race car" slippery slope, that's a pretty daunting example. But if you are on your way down...or at the bottom...it doesn't seem so crazy once you've been around it. Then there are factory programs like Pratt & Miller that spend over $1M per car and you feel like a bum for complaining about a $30k electronics package.

This is why I stay clear of discussions of which stand alone ECU under $3k is the best, as I've been spoiled by high end hardware and tech support. Really good tech support is often more valuable than the best hardware....which I don't think most people take into account when looking at initial purchase prices. I really don't mind paying full MSRP if the service is phenomenal. (Service from Apex Speed Tech has been phenomenal for me)

I have to wonder, isn't a bit of overkill and making the project more complex and expensive than it needs to be for your goals?

This car is simply a platform for me to learn more about topics that I enjoy. The additional sensors and control functions are certainly not required for this car to run, but I wouldn't have much data to learn from.I have a list of un-answered questions which I'm determined to find the answers to. I think I will gain as much satisfaction from answering these questions, as from driving the car itself.

Not all, but most. If the name is on the list, it means I have acquired at the minimum all information available to the public. Many of the more well known brands have had their software installed on one of my computers....that's how I evaluate functionality.